Half of this story is told through the perspective of Pax the fox and half of it through the perspective of his human, Peter. What impressed me the most was how well the perspective of the fox is told; I felt that I was really inside the head of the fox, with his heightened senses, his ability to feel the warmth of multiple mice living underground and smell human scents from miles away.
This is a wartime story, with evacuated areas, soldiers set up in camps, and Peter being sent to his grandfather (without Pax) so that his father could join the fight. Vola, whom Peter meets on his journey to find Pax again, is recovering from wartime injuries (physical and emotional) herself. The time and place of the war is undisclosed; it could be in the past, it could be in the future, but the issues are the same.
The suspense is there, the reader is left wondering whether Peter and Pax would survive, much less rediscover each other, with Peter being young and injured and on his own. Pax, adopted by Peter as a kit, had never lived in the wild and did not have the hunting skills that foxes learn at a young age.
I enjoy many children's stories more than adult stories because they are more likely to have happy endings, and while this one is no exception, it is also bittersweet. It is ultimately a story about letting go.
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